CIMA Board Member Named to Federal Advisory Committee

The Department of Canadian Heritage has named CIMA board member Justin West to serve as one of 12 experts on a Canadian Content Advisory Committee that will assist Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly to reassess and update Canada’s laws, policies and regulations pertaining to the cultural sector.

Mélanie Joly and the Department of Canadian Heritage have appointed twelve experts from outside the Department to guide the government’s broad reassessment of Canadian cultural policies. Their goal is to update, and hopefully improve, Canada’s support system for the arts – a system that does not always function optimally in a digital media environment.

Although the Advisory Committee on Canadian Content in a Digital World has no formal decision-making power, they will provide Minister Joly with feedback as she reevaluates the laws that govern Canadian cultural industries. None of the members will be paid for their participation on the panel. Their goal is to help Canada’s cultural industries perform more successfully and sustainably in a digital media context.

The Committee first convened in June. Throughout early fall, they will hold six further workshops across Canada. Five meetings will be held with the Heritage Minister herself, to address Heritage Canada’s strategy for updating the Broadcasting Act and seven other federal statutes, including the legislation that guides the CBC, the CRTC and the Canada Council for the Arts.

 

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Justin West, who is among the dozen named members of the Cultural Advisory Committee, is founder and President of Secret City Records and Secret City Publishing. Since 2006, Secret City artists have received several JUNO Award nominations, three gold records and the Polaris Music Prize.

Justin grew up immersed in the world of music. Aside from studying at McGill University, he got early experience working for Justin Time Records, the label founded by his father, Jim West. He is also a musician himself, and has played guitar for the Montreal group Dogs Playing Poker.

In Canada, Justin serves as a board member for both CIMA and FACTOR. Internationally, he represents Canada on the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) Council, and sits on the board of directors at MERLIN (a global rights management agency for independent music companies).
 

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For more information on Heritage Canada’s Canadian Content in a Digital World consultations, click here.